CHICAGO, Sept 1 (Reuters) - Vietnam lifted its ban on imports of distillers’ dried grains with solubles, an animal feed byproduct of corn-based ethanol, a trade group and two U.S. DDGs traders said on Friday.

Cargoes of U.S. animal feed, known as DDGs, will need to be fumigated before being allowed entry into the country, the traders said.

Vietnam, which formerly was the No. 3 destination for the feed, announced a suspension of DDGs imports in October after claiming supplies were contaminated with the Ballion, or Warehouse beetle.

“We are very pleased to hear the news from Vietnam overnight that, as of today, import permits will be issued for U.S. DDGs and new phosphine fumigation protocols will be acceptable for shipments of U.S. corn, DDGs and wheat,” Tom Sleight, president of the trade group U.S. Grains Council, said in a statement.

One trader said Vietnamese buyers already were calling him to book cargoes and that he sold a shipment of about 10,000 tonnes. “I‘m getting run over by demand,” he said.

Through the first six months of the year Vietnam purchased only 2,012 tonnes of U.S. DDGs, down from shipments of 438,468 tonnes in the first six months of 2016, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data. Total DDGs exports to Vietnam in 2016 were a record of 1.156 million tonnes.